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Our Mission

The Lyme Tree aims to improve access to mental health resources & support for those challenged with Lyme disease and tick borne illness.

By connecting patients with local support groups, educational resources & crisis support The Lyme Tree strives to foster hope, resilience, empowerment, and healing. Through educational outreach, The Lyme Tree seeks to improve people’s understanding of the neurological and emotional impact of this complex and debilitating “invisible” illness.

Are you in crisis? Do you need to talk to someone about Lyme disease?

Text HELP to 741-741 and reach a live operator trained by The Lyme Tree team to support those with Lyme disease.

Our Branches of Support

Connect Patients to Support Groups

The Lyme Tree helps patients and their loved ones connect with local Lyme support groups through our national Find a Support Group page.

Provide Resources

Through our Support Tools Lyme disease patients and caregivers can access tips and resources for coping with various aspects of the illness.

The Lyme Tree’s Support Tools and Educational Resources enable health care providers and educators- including mental health counselors, social workers, and school counselors- to become better informed about the neurological and emotional impacts of the disease.

Unite and guide support groups nationwide

The Lyme Tree aims to guide and unite Lyme disease support groups around the country by providing training and education to group leaders. In addition, up-to-date materials found on our Educational Resources page can be used to help guide support group meetings.

Train Providers

The Lyme Tree connects healthcare providers to resources that help them better serve the neurological and emotional needs of the Lyme and tick borne illness population. A curriculum for training providers is under development.

Improve Crisis Management

Due to the high rates of depression and suicidal tendencies experienced by Lyme disease patients, The Lyme Tree recognizes the vital need for better crisis management. The Lyme Tree is collaborating with Crisis Text Line to provide training and resources to CTL counselors so they recognize and offer appropriate mental health services and support to Lyme patients in crisis.

If you or a loved one are in need of immediate support for issues relating to tick borne illness, including suicidal tendencies, please know these options are available:

Call 911

Go to your nearest emergency room

Text HELP to Crisis Text Line to 741-741 available 24 hours every day

Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number at 1-800-273-8255 available 24 hours every day

Our Roots

The Lyme Tree‘s roots were planted in April 2016 at the first ever Hackathon for Lyme Innovation at MIT in Cambridge, MA. Kerry Lang, the mental health counselor at the Dean Center for Tick Borne Illness at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, pitched an idea to unite support groups across the country and to educate mental health providers so that every patient with Lyme disease could have access to emotional support.

We formed a team, consisting of patients, advocates, a physician and data scientist, and won first place and went onto compete at the next series of Lyme Innovation hackathons in June and September.

We promoted using an existing patient powered platform, Crisis Text Line, to help combat the isolation, depression and suicidal tendencies of Lyme disease patients by connecting Lyme patients in crisis to mental health services and support via texting.

Our “TextLyme” team created a database of resources and support groups in addition to educational materials on Lyme disease to be used to train Crisis Text Line operators. By collaborating with Crisis Text Line and Open Medicine Institute we envision using open data to help shine a spotlight on the mental health needs of this pernicious “invisible” illness.

Our team won third place in the final hackathon event and earned a trip to Washington DC where we were honored at the White House Open Data Innovation Summit in September 2016.

Lyme Innovation is the first ever Hackathon for Lyme disease, which provided a forum for more than 100 scientists, clinicians, researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors from a variety of disciplines to brainstorm solutions for Lyme disease. The Lyme Innovation Hackathon was sponsored by Bay Area Lyme Disease and led by the Dean Center for Tick Borne Illness at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in conjuction with Harvard Medical School Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, MIT Hacking Medicine, University of California, Berkeley, and the Veterans Affairs Center for Innovation.

Expanding upon our initial seed work in mental health outreach, our “TextLyme” hackathon idea has grown into “The Lyme Tree” to enable us to more effectively provide stronger branches of emotional support and mental health education for the Lyme disease community.

Sarah Chorney

In The Media

Help Keep Us Up to Date On Your Support Group Info or Events Focused on Lyme Disease and Mental Health

In the comment section below please send us updated information on your local support group(s) so we can keep our national support group finder up to date for the benefit of all those seeking support and resources.

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Content on this website is not intended to provide diagnosis, treatment or medical advice. Products, services, information and other content provided on The Lyme Tree, including information that may be provided on this Site directly or by linking to third-party websites are provided for informational purposes only. Please consult with a physician or other healthcare professional regarding any medical or health related diagnosis or treatment options.